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An Invisible Barn, Made With Low-Tech Trickery

NYC architecture firm stpmj came up with the idea to cover a barn in mylar. Can you see it?

The designers created the Invisible Barn concept for the Architecture League's Folly Competition, which asks designers to come up with a building that's just for show.

In the conceptual project, stpmj covered wood studs in mylar to create the mirrored effect.

Though it's not actually a reality (yet), the idea is to blend the barn into its surroundings.

By reflecting the woods around the barn, the focus is shifted from the built structure to nature.

Cut-outs in the wood create floating windows, which is a totally trippy effect.

If you’re looking to hide a barn in plain sight, here's a fool-proof way to go about: cover it in mylar. That’s what New York City architecture firm stpmj did for a new conceptual project for the Architectural League’s Folly Competition.

The contest asks up and coming designers to create a 21st century architectural folly to be installed in the Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, N.Y. Derived from the French word for "foolish," a folly is a building or structure that’s created with no real purpose beyond looking cool.

Cut outs would allow the viewer to look at their surroundings.

Image: stpmj

These sorts of architectural novelties can be obnoxiously obvious, but stpmj’s Invisible Barn was designed to disappear altogether. The simple structure is made from two-by-fours covered in mylar, the shiny material found in silvery birthday balloons and space blankets. The mirrored surface reflects its surroundings; in this case, the sky, some plants and a wooded grove.

A few strategically placed cut-outs amplify the illusion, creating floating windows that peer into the scenery you're already experiencing. It’s a trippy optical illusion, particularly when you realize you can walk through the passageways like a door. By turning the building into an apparition, the focus is shifted from the man-made structure back to the natural world.

Its technique is reminiscent of the mirrored-covered shack in Joshua Tree, or the glassy modern treehouse from Gluck+ that sits above the canopy in upstate New York. And though the Invisible Barn didn’t win the competition, we're hoping this doesn't mean the concept will actually disappear.